Police operated sting operations can be set up for many different reasons. Most of the time, they are set up like drag net to catch everyone that they can in a determined crime and location. However, sometimes, a sting operation can be set up in order to trap one person whose actions are so abhorrent to the public definition that to allow their conduct to continue would be a breach of justice. A New York Criminal Lawyer said that is usually the case when a public servant who has been entrusted with the well-being of the society goes astray and violates that sacred public trust.
When a police officer violates that public trust, the case is even more important to the other police officers whose names have been sullied by the dishonor that another person has placed on their positions. In August of 1994, the police in Queens County received information from an informant that a police officer was engaging in illegal activities. The police department decided to set up a sting in order to catch this criminal police officer in the act. They arranged for an officer that the criminal officer did not know to pose as a drug dealer. This undercover officer was assigned to approach the suspected officer with a deal to protect a felony shipment of drug money for the undercover officer who was posing as a drug dealer. The two officers met and surveillance officers were taping the encounter. A deal was struck for the criminal police officer to work for the drug dealer to ensure that the drug money was transported safely. The police officer was arrested and charged with a bribery for public service in the third degree, receiving reward for official misconduct in the second degree, official misconduct, and computer trespass.
The defendant appealed his conviction on the grounds that he would not have considered the offense if it had not been created and sold to him so effectively. While this allegation may sound like entrapment, it falls just short of entrapment in that the officers conducting the sting were acting on a tip from an informant. They did not simply single this officer out in an arbitrary manner to tempt him into committing a crime. The officer contends that it is exactly what they did. He claims that he was innocent of any crime until the sting operation seduced him into committing the crime.
The prosecution maintains that the defendant was never shy about using his status as a police officer to accept money from the drug dealer to transport the drug money. He had only exhibited a fear of getting caught while transporting the money. The prosecution contends that the proof that they were not tempting him with an exorbitant amount of money is proven by the fact that the defendant negotiated his fee for the activity with the undercover officer. Clearly, since he countered with a higher fee for the transport, he thought that the offer from the undercover officer was too low. Even though the defendant maintains that he was denied his due process rights by the actions of the officers involved in conducting the sting, the Supreme Court disagrees.
The Supreme Court denied the convicted officer the summary judgment to dismiss his conviction in that they determined that the facts were legally sufficient to prove the convicted officer’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. A Long Island Criminal Lawyer said the facts were simply arranged to denote that the undercover officer whom he thought was a drug dealer approached the officer. The dealer offered him money to transport an amount of drug money for him. The officer negotiated a higher price for the activity from the “dealer.” He only expressed a fear of getting caught.
Stephen Bilkis & Associates has experienced Queens Criminal Lawyers. They are knowledgeable in defending all criminal cases, whether you have been charged with theft, sex crimes or a drug charge. They can meet you in convenient offices throughout New York and the Metropolitan area. Their Queens Drug lawyers can provide you with a reputable defense.